December 22, 2012

Instagram Reversal Doesn’t Appease Everyone

Instagram has backpedaled on changes to its terms of service that appeared to let the maker of the photo-sharing app sell users' images, with founder and CEO Kevin Systrom announcing today that the terms will revert to the version in place since the service launched in 2010.

Facebook-owned Instagram ignited a storm of protest with the announcement earlier this week that it was claiming perpetual rights to sell users' photographs without notifying or compensating the photographer. Under that new policy, Facebook claimed the right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, effectively transforming the Web site into the world's largest stock photo agency.

The app maker apologized to its users yesterday, saying it would "remove" language from its legal terms that would have let it sell users' photos or use them in advertisements. Systrom said it's "our mistake that this language is confusing" and that the company is "working on updated language."

The user revolt came three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the popular photo-sharing service, which has more than 100 million users, and follows recent efforts by the social network to increase revenue.